Bitcoin is on investors’ radar again as new US job data hints at a slowing labour market. The Labor Department confirmed that the nonfarm payrolls increased by 143,000 in January, a decrease from 256,000 recorded in December.
That number is below the Wall Street forecast of 169,000. At the same time, the unemployment rate slipped down from 4.1% to 4%, showing that there are fewer people without jobs
Right now, the labor market is maintaining its cool, which increases the expectation of a Federal Reserve rate cut. With lower rates come more attractive risk investments in the asset Bitcoin.
Bitcoin’s price rose to $98,497 after the release of the job data, a good increase from the 24-hour low of $95,707.35 before falling back to below. It is trading at 97,949 at the time of writing this report.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin Futures Open Interest also spiked, showing greater interest from investors. A few analysts are confident that this might lead to a bullish trend in the crypto market.
The financial market responded to the job data as well. The 10-year U.S. Treasury Bond Yield climbed 0.77% to 4.471, and the U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.23% to $107.790.
However, the CME FedWatch Tool indicated that there was only a 10.5% possibility of a 25 basis point rate cut at the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that will take place in March.
On Jan 30, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated that both the central bank and the government would monitor inflation and economic conditions before they make any change in policy. “We need to see more evidence that inflation is on a sustainable path to 2% before considering rate cuts,” Powell stated in the last FOMC meeting.
Despite the doubt about the rate cuts, some crypto experts still see Bitcoin’s future in a positive light. A market analyst, Mister Crypto, claimed in a recent post on the X (formerly Twitter) platform that the latest job data was “BULLISH FOR CRYPTO.”
Many traders view the weakened job market as an indication of the possibility of rate cuts, meaning that Bitcoin appears to be a more attractive investment instrument.
However, short-term volatility could still shake the crypto market. Large Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) options contracts are set to expire, which may lead to price swings.
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